![]() ![]() on 28 November, reached the pole at 1:14 a.m. The plane took off from the Little America base on McMurdo Sound at 3:29 p.m. McKinley, USA, made the first flight over the South Pole in a Ford 4-AT trimotor named Floyd Bennett. Byrd Jr., civilian pilot Bernt Balchen, civilian copilot and radio operator Harold June, and photographer Capt. This marked the beginning of flight surgeon training in the Navy as well as the end of an interservice agreement, in effect since 1922, by which Navy medical officers trained at the Army’s flight surgeon school.Ģ9 November 1929-Commander and navigator Cmdr. Poppen, MC, reported for duty in charge of the Aviation Section of the Naval Medical School in Washington, D.C. ![]() This achievement marked the first use of a mooring mast erected on board a ship to facilitate airship operations with the fleet.Ģ July 1926-Congress authorized the Distinguished Flying Cross as an award for acts of heroism or extraordinary achievement in aerial flight by any member of the armed services, including the National Guard and the Reserves, retroactive to 6 April 1917.ġ8 January 1927-Lt. Shenandoah remained moored to Patoka during the ship’s passage to anchor off Jamestown, Rhode Island, and cast off the following day. The planes attained speeds of 193 and 187 miles per hour.Ĩ August 1924-The rigid airship Shenandoah (ZR-1) secured to the mooring mast of the oiler Patoka (AO-9) while underway in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Williams flew CR-2 and CR-1 racers with D-12 engines to finish third and fourth, respectively, in the Pulitzer Trophy Race at Detroit, Michigan. The aircraft possessed inadequate longitudinal stability, but its completion marked a step forward in the development of all-metal aircraft.ġ4 October 1922-Lt. Langley.Ģ5 April 1922-Pilot Eddie Stinson made the initial flight of an ST-1 twin-engine torpedo plane built by Stout Engineering Laboratory as the first all-metal airplane designed for the Navy. Langley was named in honor of aviation pioneer Samuel P. The Norfolk Navy Yard had converted Langley from the collier Jupiter (AC-3), replacing her coal-handling derricks with a wooden flight deck and converting holds to hangars and fuel tanks. aircraft carrier Langley (CV-1) was commissioned at Norfolk, Virginia, under the command of Executive Officer Cmdr. Most of this was typical of new technology developing at a rapid pace, but some of these questions would persist for decades.Ģ0 March 1922-The first U.S. Naval aviators grew frustrated with their career limitations and lack of command responsibilities, and those within the aircraft industry became discontented with small peacetime orders, government procurement policies, and federal competition. Naval pilots used their skills to turn airplanes to new uses in polar exploration and photographic surveying, and solved the basic and unique problems of taking aviation to sea.ĭebates emerged in these years over the role of airpower and such issues as the role of the services in coastal defense included questions on the further need for a Navy. Sailors and Marines developed innovative tactics and learned techniques of dive bombing, torpedo attack, scouting, spotting for gunfire, and operating from advanced bases. Each year planes flew faster, higher, and longer, and naval aviation contributed to world records. Aircraft equipped with oleo struts and folding wings enhanced the operating capabilities of carriers. Despite slim funds for research, radial air-cooled engines developed into efficient and reliable sources of propulsion, better instruments came into use, and an accurate bombsight became available. Impressive technical progress also characterized the decade. At the end of the decade three carriers sailed in full operation, patrol squadrons performed scouting functions, and commanders regularly assigned planes to battleships and cruisers. Small air detachments in each fleet proved effective during operations at sea. The air arm steadily increased in size and strength while improving its administrative and operational position within the Navy. The 1920s was a decade of growth in naval aviation. ![]()
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